Ethnic Iranians are seen as being Muslim, and carrying out any Christian activities in their Farsi language is illegal. An Iranian man who leaves Islam can be sentenced to death and a woman to life imprisonment, although such sentences haven’t been carried out for more than 20 years. However, in 2017 over a dozen Christians – most of them converts to Christianity – were given prison sentences of between 10 and 15 years for “acting against national security”. According to religious freedom watchdog Article 18, such political charges attempt “to avoid international outcry at religiously motivated charges”. Several imprisoned Iranian Christians have undertaken hunger strikes in protest.
Don’t speak, act, Rouhani told
Religious minorities continue to face repression in Iran, despite new President Hassan Rouhani’s moderate persona, reports Al-Monitor. Al-Monitor says the new President should speak with actions, not words, as he prepares to address the UN General Assembly in New York next week. “Since Rouhani’s election in June, there has been […]
Retired pastor tried in Tehran
The trial of a retired Iranian-Armenian pastor started on September 7 at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, nine months after his arrest, reports Mohabat News. Vruir Avanessian, 61, is accused of “action against national security” and “proselytising Farsi-speaking citizens”. His trial took place behind closed doors. Avanessian, who suffers from […]
Jail then exile for Iranian convert
Iranian Christian convert Ebrahim Firouzi, 28, has been jailed for one year for “evangelism activities [which are] considered in opposition to the regime of the Republic Islamic of Iran”. (Source: Mohabat) Firouzi, who was arrested in March and could not afford a lawyer, will then spend two years in exile […]
‘Your wife arrested, your father dead’
An imprisoned Iranian convert to Christianity has spoken of the “mental torture” he has experienced since his arrest in December 2010. Mohabat News reports that Farshid Fathi, who is serving a six-year jail term for being the “chief director of a foreign organisation in Iran and raising funds for [them]”, […]
Iranian convert jailed for 10 years
Mostafa Bordbar.World Watch Monitor Mostafa Bordbar, an Iranian convert to Christianity, has been jailed for 10 years (Source: Mohabat News). Bordbar, 27, who was arrested last year, was sentenced to five years for membership of an “anti-security organisation” and five years for partaking in “gatherings with intent to commit […]
Iranian Christians continue to face arrest, imprisonment
Ebrahim Firouzi, 28, jailed for “promoting Christian Zionism, attempting to launch a Christian website, contact with suspicious foreigners and running online church service”.Mohabat News The steady flow of Iranian Christians facing arrest and imprisonment on spurious charges continues. In Shiraz, famous for its cultural significance to Iranians as the […]
‘Freed’ Asseriyan sworn to silence
Robert Asseriyan, the Iranian pastor arrested during a church service on May 21, has been freed, Mohabat News reports. Asseriyan, of the Assemblies of God Church in Tehran, was reportedly released on bail on July 2. Mohabat says the condition for his freedom is for him to remain silent, after […]
Rouhani victory ‘not free nor fair’
Iran’s elections were neither free nor fair, according to Mansour Osanloo, former President of the Tehran Bus Driver’s Union, writing for the New York Times. Hassan Rouhani won the June 15 election, but the real power, Osanloo said, still lies with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran convicts six Christian converts
Six Iranian converts to Christianity were convicted of crimes related to their membership in a house church, a news service has reported. Mohabat News, which reports on news of Christians inside Iran, published a report on Sunday (June 16) claiming that four men, a woman and her teen-aged son were convicted […]
Iranians vote for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s successor
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s second term as President of Iran is coming to an end. The Iranian constitution doesn’t allow him to run again for President, so one thing is certain: on August 3, another man will be inaugurated as the new President. Four years on from the contentious elections of […]